


“He’s currently indisposed.”

by InTooManyFandomsRay



Series: 50 DAYS DIALOGUE PROMPTS [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Caring, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everybody loves Merlin, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Merlin Needs a Hug (Merlin), POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Gwaine (Merlin), Protective Knights (Merlin), Sir Leon the Long Suffering, Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), can be romantic or platonic you decide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTooManyFandomsRay/pseuds/InTooManyFandomsRay
Summary: Everybody is protective of Merlin, and Arthur is realizing just how much and how many.
Relationships: Knights of the Round Table & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: 50 DAYS DIALOGUE PROMPTS [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129253
Comments: 5
Kudos: 597





	“He’s currently indisposed.”

**Author's Note:**

> I still have no clue where I was going with this lol

There was something about Merlin.

Arthur knew his servant was one of a kind from the moment they first interacted. His reckless, yet brave, comebacks were all a part of his annoying charm. Over the years, their relationship matured from servant-Prince to friends, and then eventually to best-ready-to-die-for-each-other-and-burn-the-world-for-each-other-friends. So it made sense for Arthur to grow protective over him, naturally.

What did not make sense to him was the rest of Camelot becoming nearly as protective of his manservant as he was.

He first noticed it in one of the royal feasts, when one of the nobles, namely Lady Faye had asked for his manservant personally.

“My Lord, I apologize if this sounds… strange,” she asked him, peering over his shoulder as her eyes searched for someone, “but where is your servant, Merlin? Does he not usually escort you to your feasts? I have something that I think he might like.”

Arthur, who had been blissfully sipping on his wine, choked, turning a deep shade of red. After several attempts to regain his breathing and some hearty (definitely hard on purpose) slaps on his back by Gwaine, he managed to stutter out a response that did not make him look like a fool (Merlin disagrees, he always looks like a fool).

“He’s currently indisposed.”

If Arthur thought that was the right response, he was sorely mistaken as he saw in the events that unfolded. The room seemed to still as every person, noble and peasant alike turned to stare at him with cold eyes. The glare he received from the Knights would’ve been enough to kill him, and he noticed Lancelot holding Gwaine’s arm, as though stopping the latter from stabbing the King in the eye.

Lady Faye let out a small noise of distress, “He’s dead?! ”

“What? NO!” Arthur gaped, unsure of how his words had such a ridiculous meaning. “Indisposed, as in, busy in some other work! Or probably asleep! I’ve given him the night off!”

The room seemed to let out a collective sigh as things resumed back to normal. The stink eye, however, that was given by Gwaine, did not go unnoticed, but he chose not to comment on it. Not now anyway. Lady Faye nodded, a smile gracing her features again as though the answer satisfied her.

Arthur couldn’t begin to grasp the heads or tails of what had happened here, but he chalked it up to one of the weird incidents that he had learned not to question (it was a very long list).

The second time he discovered someone expressing their protectiveness over Merlin was completely by accident. He did not mean to eavesdrop like a lowly rat, but the mention of his servant’s name was enough to garner his attention.

“-looked like death incarnate. Has Arthur been working that poor boy to the bone again?”

The King was on his way to his chambers when he heard his name echo lightly through the corridor. Careful to conceal himself, he peeked from behind the doors of the kitchen to see a few of the servants gossiping among themselves.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Helga. He hardly notices how tired Merlin is looking these days.”

The woman, who Arthur assumed must be Helga, nodded, a frown on her face. “We should make sure he gets some food the next time he comes in. He’s going to need all the strength he can get, running around the King and all.”

“The King can go stick one up his arse, if you may excuse me for speaking so,” one of the men scowled, crossing his arms. Arthur barely suppressed his growl. This was highly bordering on treason, and he was very close to addressing them himself, were it not for the fact that Mer lin was involved.

“No, Liam, you’re right. What is he thinking? He needs to give Merlin a break. Honestly, why Merlin sticks with him I’ll never understand. The boy can do so much better.”

Now that, Arthur could agree with. He still couldn’t grasp why Merlin was putting up with him. If anything, Arthur could surely applaud his beautiful servant for his loyalty.

….Beautiful?

He cursed himself in his mind as he quietly left the place. Beautiful?! Where had that even come from? He massaged his temples as he entered his chambers. He was too tired to deal with this. He made sure to ease some of Merlin’s chores though and had him eat breakfast and dinner with him.

The third time it happened, Arthur didn’t know why he was even surprised anymore. Merlin had somehow wiggled his way into the hearts of every person residing in Camelot, and that included one of the flower-vendors in the market in the lower town. It went something like this –

Arthur was in the lower town, just talking to his people and trying to be a better King. As he walked the narrow streets, he saw Merlin further down ahead. A grin came upon his face at the sight of his servant and he had every mind to march up to him when he noticed what he was doing.

Merlin was crouching, eyes crinkling with a wide smile, as he held a flower in his hand. He seemed deep in conversation with the flower-vendor, who was talking expressively and gesturing vaguely. For a minute, Arthur’s heart sank. Was Merlin courting someone?

That thought was pushed aside quickly when a stranger bumped into Merlin. The latter stumbled to the ground as the man glared at him. Eh?

Merlin dusted off quickly and stood up, arms crossed. He spoke something, pointing towards the now crushed flower he had held previously. The stranger only glared at Merlin and then did something that had his heart drop to his stomach.

He pushed Merlin. Hard.

His servant was thrown to the ground, unable to keep his balance. Before Arthur could react, the flower vendor had gotten up, and now stood in between the stranger and Merlin. Arthur would’ve commended the man on his bravery if he didn’t consider it foolish as well. The stranger was almost twice the size of the vendor.

However, his judgments were dismissed when other stall owners stood side by side with the vendor, forming a barricade between the stranger and Merlin. A warm feeling began to trickle its way into Arthur’s chest at the sight.

The stranger seemed to get the hint and walked away, a scowl still burned on his face. On the other side of the barricade, Merlin stumbled on his feet. Immediately, the people began to coddle him. He was being given flowers, fruits, bread, even clothes . All of which Merlin humbly accepted, and Arthur noticed the red blush of embarrassment on his cheeks. Unaware that his King had witnessed all this, Merlin simply turned and wandered off, still smiling.

Arthur had begun to accept that maybe, everybody did look out for Merlin in their own ways. And this was enough for him, for losing Merlin was something he did not want to think about. No, the mere idea was impossible to entertain.

However, the incident which left his head reeling was the most recent one. The one happening right now.

The newest Knight was bullying Merlin.

Arthur was sparring against Elyan when he noticed Merlin’s hunched position from across the ground. He noticed Sir Javier place a hand on Merlin’s shoulder, and were Arthur not paying attention, he would’ve missed the way his manservant flinched, his eyes shut tightly and fists clenched tightly to his side.

This momentarily distracted him and Elyan landed a blow to his ribs. He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain, and yet, his eyes didn’t leave Merlin.

Oblivious to the fact that Arthur was watching him, Sir Javier grabbed the front of Merlin’s tunics, pulling the boy to him, his sneer apparent on his face. The knight then pushed his servant down and sent a kick to his ribs. It was then that Merlin cried out in pain.

Arthur was immediately on his feet, his face burning with rage. How dare he, a knight of Camelot moreover, place a hand on his friend? He marched over to Javier with all intentions of showing him his rightful place when someone else beat him to it.

Sir Leon had grabbed Javier by his throat and punched him.

Javier stumbled to the ground, shock written all over his face. Leon pulled him up using the front of his armor, and practically spit on his face.

“If you _ever_ show your face here again, you will regret the day you ever stepped foot in Camelot, I assure you.”

Arthur was stunned at the uncontrolled rage emitting from his First Knight. Of all people, Leon was the last person he expected to ever lose control. The normal calm demeanor of the knight had faded away, and only wrath stood before him. Javier must’ve gotten the hint for he nodded frantically before scampering away.

Leon turned around and Arthur met his eye. He saw the loyalty in his knight’s eyes, not for him, but for Merlin. His stance was rigid as if expecting Arthur to challenge him.

But Arthur nodded at him, and immediately, his posture relaxed.

Later that day, Arthur hovered outside the armory. He had just taken Merlin to Gaius and was returning when he had heard whispering. Peering inside, he saw that the rest of the knights were crouching, talking amongst themselves.

Percival’s usual calm tone was replaced with a cold edge as he spoke, “I should’ve ripped his hand off, the bloody weasel.”

“Don’t worry, Percy, you’ll get your chance. I heard he’s still hiding in one of the inn’s in the lower town,” Gwaine said, his eyes twinkling darkly as he put his hand on the bigger man’s shoulder. “The owner is planning on taking a stroll tonight, and he’s going to hand over the keys to me. For safekeeping of course.”

A look was shared between Elyan and Lancelot. Arthur shuddered at the intensity of it.

“What if he complained? We may be knights, but we’re not of noble birth. Nobody would take our word over the words of a Noble.” Elyan grumbled. The silence that followed made Arthur uncomfortable. Everybody seemed to agree with the statement and looked too afraid to make a decision. So he decided to step in.

He opened the door and walked in, and the knights seemed to freeze as they stared at him.

“Of course, it’s empty. I’ve sent away my knights for a very important mission, and they are not at all in Camelot at the moment,” he said, shrugging off his armor, pretending to not see them. He turned around, seeing realization dawn on their eyes.

“However, if they _were_ here, I would tell them that their actions would have no consequence, as their King stands with them, through every step of the way,” Arthur said, smiling. “In fact, the King is also accompanying his knights on the mission. So they are not alone in this.”

Everybody now seemed to be wearing identical grins on them as his words sank in. Silently, they made their way to the inn and properly took care of Javier before sending him on his merry way.

That night, Arthur came to an understanding. His Merlin was absolutely protected by everyone in his Kingdom. And he couldn’t be more thankful for that.


End file.
